whyweprotestwikiaorg-20200215-history
Disconnection
Download this document as a pdf Introduction }} Scientology does break up families and friendships. In Scientology "disconnection" means permanently repudiating family or friends, who may be antagonistic to the church. Disconnection is a longstanding practice in Scientology and was made official doctrine in 1983 by the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, under a policy titled PTSness AND DISCONNECTION. Would a Methodist church or Jewish synagogue mandate that grandchildren shun grandparents who didn't share their religious beliefs? That is what happens in Scientology. In the course of Scientology's history, disconnection has subverted virtually every possible human relationship. Marriages are broken when spouses disconnect from each other under church pressure. Mother's and Father's lose children at the church's behest. Brothers and sister's disconnect from parents and from each other. Scientology has imposed permanent disconnection on aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, friends, and grand-parents, in every conceivable combination. When Allen Stanfield left Scientology (after almost 20 years) the 'church' tried to force his wife, sister and brother-in-law to disconnect from him. According to Allen: }} Disconnection as Scientology doctrine How could this be? It occurs through a tricky bit of Scientology legerdemain that blames a member's "stalled spiritual progress" on family and friends, who may be skeptical of the church. If a church member is not getting "wins" in their training, it must be the result of negative influence. What negative influence? The influence of anyone critical of Scientology. Cut-off from that person and spiritual progress is regained. Using this circular argument, Scientology keeps members in the church and forces them to shun the people most likely to have their best interests at heart. Scientology hides this contol of its' members behind the church doctrines of "PTS/SP". "PTS" is an abbreviation for "potential trouble source" and "SP" for "suppressive person". For Scientologists, any personal problem, stress, disease, difficulty or just ill-luck is the result of an association with a suppressive person who is creating "negative energy." A Scientologist experiencing a personal problem is, themselves, a potential trouble source. And the situation, in toto, "a potential trouble source condition". The solution to a PTS condition is straightforward - get the supressive person to stop creating the damaging negativity or 'cut-loose' from the SP so their negative energy has no effect. Hubbard describes this simple doctrine in the Scientology Handbook: 1. That all illness in greater or lesser degree and all foul-ups stem directly and only from a PTS condition. 2. That getting rid of the condition requires three basic actions: (A) Discover; (B) Handle or © Disconnect. | }} In earlier documentation, Hubbard describes the PTS/SP condition in these terms: SP: (Suppressive Person) – a person of known antagonism to the Church of Scientology p. 201, its Tech, its founder, management, or their corporate goals pp. 309-315. This would include most if not all ex-members and critics p. 311., as well as the majority of the secular mental health field (aka “psychs”) p. 264. A Scientologist can become PTS by reason of being connected to someone that is antagonistic to Scientology or its tenets. In order to resolve the PTS condition, he either handles the other person's antagonism (as covered here and in full on the PTS/SP Course) or, as a last resort when all attempts to handle have failed, he disconnects from the person. He is simply exercising his right to communicate or not to communicate with a particular person. With our tech of handle or disconnect, we are, in actual fact, doing nothing different than any society or group or marriage down through thousands of years. p. 206.10Sep1983. | }} Scientology teaches that all problems (auto accidents, illness, even cancer) are the result of association with a suppressive person. Isolating oneself from SPs is the only defense against a haphazard existence. Handling suppression and disconnecting from SPs is imperative to self preservation and also to acheiving immortality. Scientologists believe the soul (called thetan) can become god-like through church auditing and training. Attaining the church's highest levels on the "Bridge to Happiness" guarantees power over eternity. A family member or friend who is a suppressive stands between the Scientologist and immortality. The effect of disconnection Personal testimonies to the devastation wreaked by Hubbard's "PTSness and Disconnection" policy are so numerous that the breadth of the problem is best discovered by counting the "hits" resulting from internet searches. Nonetheless, here are some examples: In 2004 I got SP declared and my mother does not and has not talked to me since then. She is still a member of the Church of Scientology. I tried calling her last week and I left a message. She did not call me back. Also my brother does not talk to me because I am declared suppressive. He is afraid they will take his daughter away from him (a child he has from a previous marriage where the mother is a die-hard Scientologist) if he talks to me. "Bea Kiddo" tells me her full story which can be read online . | }} If you know anything about the whereabouts of Ashley Brooke Young, please contact "Antoine Young"... . | }} Here's an recent example of disconnection between good friends: I have been very upfront with a friend (who himself has been inactive in Scientology for a number of years) about my reasons for leaving. He understands and has been willing to maintain the friendship regardless. This friend has had his own experience of bait and switch at Flag that ended up costing him $60,000. And he did not get the result he wanted. He has told me that he is done. Recently I decided I wanted to get some auditing. I found an Independent auditor and have received two really helpful sessions. I shared my good news with this "friend". He disconnected from me today on the grounds that getting services from a "squirrel" is not okay with him. (A "squirrel" is a very derogatory term Scientologists use for someone who practices the beliefs outside the auspices of the official church.The term also serves to de-personalize the target, this making it more justifiable to commit harmful acts against them in the name of religious rightousness) I am quite sure that this severing of our friendship is something the church would support without question. However, within the church, much importance is placed on people getting auditing. And, the Code of Honor seems to be cast aside in this instance. I am saddened that a "friend" would be not be happy to hear that I was doing well with my new spiritual activity, especially since getting auditing in the field is my only choice. (I would not have it any other way and am very glad I left the corporate scientology enviornment) My statement is to show yet another example of how a destructive policy/influence serves to degrade/damage relationships. I never had a single argument with my friend. We spoke every week and shared good news and talked about our lives, whether good or bad. I have known this person for almost 5 years now. I have always supported him and been a good friend. Scientology today advertises how it can help bring people together, and respect the religious rights and beliefs of others. I want to see this for myself in action. | }} Disconnection: Enforcing and coercing The Church of Scientology claims that disconnection is strictly a voluntary. A decision Scientologists make of their own free will. At times, this may be the case. Unfortunately, there is considerable evidence that Scientology disconnection is often coerced. I was exhausted and could barely think. When they finally came back into the room I felt so crazy and told them I knew my priorities were out and I needed proper handling. I told them I could not write the disconnect letters but I would do anything else. | }} A PTS handling requires that a person (1) Handle or (2) Disconnect from the SP or antagonistic source. So from my job as the de-PTSer you can imagine that I was knee deep in "handlings" and "disconnections" in some cases. The bottom line is that disconnection is and always will be a Scientology practice because it is forged in their PTS/SP policies. Just open up any PTS/SP course pack or the Introduction to Scientology Ethics book and read it for yourself. Scientology quotes to the press that they don't do these things which are obvious lies by their own printed policies and practices. I was separated from my own family for over a decade. I saw my family only a few days in all of that time. They lived in Los Angeles only a couple hours away from where I was working. And at that time, the Gold Base (in Hemet, California) was a confidential location and not many people actually knew where it was at the time. Thanks to the internet, knowing where the Gold Base is is just a click away. As well, I was separated from my then wife Melanie for 4 years who was a fellow Sea Organization member. She became an RTC Representative and was sent to AOLA and then Flag. I only saw her a couple of days out of 4 years. This was by order of David Miscavige. When I chose to leave the Sea Org, she divorced me and was forced to disconnect from me as well. In the meetings we had while I was undergoing my leaving process (only a couple of times) she had an RTC handler with her to ensure that I didn't say anything that would get her to change her mind about being there or talk her into leaving with me. She is still at Flag as an RTC Representative as far as I know. I haven't heard much about her since I left the Sea Org in May of 2000. | }} As "Nemesis of Carrie Elkins" describes, the cult coerces members to divorce: One Carrie Elkins, a blind person (who went blind on Scientology's Purification Rundown) was soliciting donations for CCHR -- Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a group founded by Scientology to get rid of the psychs. Carrie Elkins regularly would call "B" to solicit him for donations. "B" had paid her tens of thousands of dollars over the prior years and she continued to call him for donations. The phone calls and tactics she used were grueling and destructive of my husband's peace of mind. He would frequently be upset for about a week after her calls, whether he paid her any money or not. After one particularly malicious phone call, I found out that Carrie Elkins had been telling my husband the following things: Your wife is your problem. You should divorce your wife. Who wears the pants in your family? Your wife doesn't really want you to go up the Bridge (Scientology's Bridge to Total Freedom) Carrie Elkins also accused my husband (and me) of being the cause of her own crashed stats (production record) since "B" had stopped donating. At the time, I wrote a report to the Church of Scientology International Justice Chief (I still have the copy). Nothing was done, of course. | }} Fighting to reconnect Susan Lentsch is one of many parents who have fought to contact children who disappeared in Scientology. She eventually managed to see her daughter, once, but only with the bizarre chaperoning of Scientology security. Susan's letter - written to a Church of Scientology spokesperson after 15 years of barely any contact with her daughter, deserves study, as does her story more generally. It was re-posted to Scientology Disconnection at Susan's request. I am sure you are aware that on the 11th of March, 2008, I issued a press release entitled "Mother Bear Defends Cub". This release detailed my efforts to bring my daughter, Katherine, home for a vacation with her family. During the fifteen years that my daughter has been a member of the Church of Scientology's Sea Organization, she had only come home for one three day visit in 1996 - cut short by the Church due to some "emergency". When I allowed my daughter, then a minor, to join the Sea Organization, I was told that Sea Organization Members are allowed three weeks holiday per year. In fact, it is stated in the contract that Katherine signed in 1993: "2. HOLIDAYS: '...three (3) weeks per continuous active year for Sea Org Members'." This has never happened. During Christmas of 2004, Katherine was denied permission to attend a family reunion in Minnesota, with relatives she has not seen in many years, some of which she has not seen since childhood. After the travel reservations had been made and tickets purchased, Katherine informed me that she was not able to go. To somehow include Katherine in the reunion, she was put on the speaker phone to wish both grandparents a Merry Christmas. She was sobbing and apologizing for not being able to be with them. I have tried to be patient with the Church. I have had no objection to Katherine following her religious principles and beliefs and have not objected to her work for the Church of Scientology. But I have objected to the continuing and systematic isolation of Katherine from her family. Katherine and I have enthusiastically discussed vacation plans many times, with no plans ever coming to fruition. My calls with Kate have become less and less frequent, and at times, I find myself talking to her on a speaker phone, with others present in the room who do not identify themselves. My daughter sounds less and less herself and more and more "coached" and cautious in her responses. To deny my daughter normal communication with me, and the opportunity for vacation time with her family, is unconscionable. Last March, I reached the end of my tether, and issued a press release about the situation. I issued an ultimatum: "Have my daughter at home in my living room within two weeks, or I will go to law enforcement and the media." As a result of this ultimatum, a hurried meeting was arranged between myself and my daughter. I flew down to Los Angeles and met my daughter and her Office of Special Affairs "handler," a woman named Beth, at the J. Paul Getty Museum. It was wonderful to see my daughter, and Katherine and I hugged and cried together. Katherine bought postcards from the museum store, wrote notes on the back of them, and gave them to me: These postcards are to remind you of our day together, to remind you we will always be in communication, no matter the distance, to remind you that you raised a happy, healthy, contributive person, to remind you that I will visit you, to remind you that I love you! All M' Love, Katherine}} Katherine promised me that she would come soon for a vacation. Her handler also promised me that it would absolutely be worked out so Katherine could come and visit us in Portland. She seemed sincere. I felt reassured. On April 30th Katherine informed me that she was going to do a "special program", and that I would not be able to talk to her until the program was completed. Katherine told me that I could speak with Beth while this program was in progress. I asked what kind of program it was, but Katherine and Beth refused to say. The program, which was supposed to take four or five weeks, is still not completed. It is now four months later, and we are no closer to Katherine visiting than we were in March. My own vacation came and went. My birthday came and went. No Katherine. On my birthday, I received flowers from Katherine, followed by a phone call not from Katherine, but from her OSA handler Beth, asking if I had received the flowers. Beth wished me a Happy Birthday. In August, Katherine reached the point in her program where she was allowed to speak with me. The last time I talked to my daughter was mid-August. My daughter was not her spontaneous, loving self, but sounded strained and stiff. She expressed concern, that because I am no longer in Scientology, that I do not approve of what she is doing with her life as a Scientology staff member. She asked me to send her any critical things I had been reading about the Church, (so she could "handle" me on each one of these). This would have to be done, she said, before she could come and see me. This is ridiculous. In the first place, I have no intention of spending our valuable vacation time with my daughter arguing about religion. I have always respected her decision to follow Scientology. As you know, I am myself a former Scientologist. I left the Church for my own reasons, as is my right. That my daughter and I have chosen different religious paths is of no consequence to anyone, and, frankly, is no business of the Church of Scientology. Many parents and children disagree on religious matters, or political matters, or a host of other things. It does not affect their love and respect for each other, and is no reason to forbid connection between them. Scientology preaches that communication is the "universal solvent" and will resolve anything. Yet in this case, that sentiment is not being applied. Communication is being denied. Do you seriously think that Katherine's faith is so fragile that the slightest contact with any criticism of Scientology will shatter it? If so, then you have less faith in Katherine's intelligence and strength than I do. You want to know what my main criticism of the Church of Scientology is? That they have isolated me from my own daughter and made it impossible for me to maintain the close and loving relationship that both Katherine and I desire. That is my objection. How can I be "handled" on this objection? Easy. Grant Katherine her well-earned three week leave to see her family. Is that so hard? I never, ever thought I would have to sacrifice my relationship with my daughter over religious differences. Many, many families across the world have differences with their choices of religions and political ideologies. A loving family does not let these differences impede their relationships with each other. You, yourself, have denied publicly that Scientology disconnects families. In your press release of 14 January of this year, you stated that "...most family members of Scientologists are themselves not Scientologists. And yet, as any one of millions of Scientologists would have told Morton if he had asked, they maintain a loving relationship with their families. Indeed, the Church always counsels to mend any and every familial upset – whether between Scientologists or those of another faith." Nice words. A wonderful, politically correct sentiment. But the question is, Ms. Pouw, are you actually willing to stand by those words? Are you willing to put them into action? Are you, as a Scientologist, willing to factually practice what you so eloquently preach? I am still waiting for my daughter's arrival in Portland for the vacation that she and I have been promised. The Church claims that its senior policy is to deliver what is promised. At long last, will you? Sincerely, Susan Lentsch PS: I am mailing a copy of this letter to my daughter so she can read and understand how I feel. I will be checking with her to make sure she personally received it. Please re-post and distribute as appropriate. | }} ---- Scientology, as official policy, does break up families and friendships! Hubbard's disconnection policy is cleverly woven into Scientology's promises of immortality. Under the pretext of guiding accolytes to eternal life, Scientology keeps members away from outside information and potential interference that might diminish the church's power. Scientology does break up families and friendships. Scientology disconnection often tears family ties across several generations. The suffering disconnection causes is evident in numerous personal accounts. Would a Jewish synagogue or Lutheran church, mandate that grandchildren shun grandparents that don't share their religious beliefs? It seems impossible to imagine. In that sense, Scientology's disconnection policy appears antithetical to concept of family maintained in most religions. References Category:Operation press pack Category:Copied from Chanology Wiki